Aerosols are small dust particles in the air, such as soot, ash and desert dust. They have a major influence on air pollution and climate change, but their precise role is insufficiently known. That is why scenarios for global warming up to the year 2100 vary approximately 3 degrees Celsius. Most aerosols have a cooling effect by reflecting and absorbing sunlight (aerosol-radiation interactions) and by changing the properties of clouds (aerosol-cloud interactions). But one type of aerosol–soot–contributes to global warming by boosting the warming effects of greenhouse gases. At SRON we work on space instrumentation, retrieval algorithms and data exploitation to better understand and quantify the effects of aerosols on climate and air quality.
We collaborate with climate researchers and modelers, and together contribute to the development of physical instruments and the promotion of scientific activities outside SRON.
Responsible for ¼ of human-made greenhouse effect
About 30 times more powerful than CO₂ (GWP-100)
Large emissions from fossil fuel industry, landfills, livestock
Most important human-made greenhouse gas
Hard to monitor emissions because of long lifetime
Reactions with atmospheric gases contribute to global warming
Trace gas to calculate CO₂ emissions from forest fires
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